Today's News

HILLSVILLE — Fancy Gap residents should start seeing evidence of the future water and sewer utility projects soon, according to information shared by the Carroll Public Service Authority on Nov. 21.
County Administrator Gary Larrowe suspected even as the authority held its regular meeting that some of the light work on the water project had already begun.
(The Virginia Department of Transportation had asked county officials not to start on the heavy work until after the heavy Thanksgiving holiday traffic cleared out.)

(NOTE: The Group A Division 1 state championship game will be played after The Gazette's production deadline for its Monday edition. A game summary and photos will be posted online Saturday evening. Full coverage will appear Sunday online and in our Wednesday print edition.)

One team comes from the coalfields, the other from a mill town. One is known primarily for its size and power, the other for its speed and quick-strike ability. One has a winning tradition dating back for generations, the other is treading on entirely new ground.

Yet Clintwood and Galax are linked by one common thread – having spent few Friday night hours in friendly downtown Independence this fall.

Well, that and the fact that they’ll meet one another in the state championship game Saturday.

Steven Peoples was at the 5-yard line. Charging ahead, he was soon at the 10, then the 20. Breaking through a barrier like it was made of paper, he veered left into the open field, careful not to mishandle the cargo his teammates had entrusted him to carry in his right hand. A gang of players was running behind him.

If one thing stands out about Lonesome Pine District football in general, it is the tradition.

From the athletic tape on the front of each Clintwood player’s helmet scrawled with ‘LPD PRIDE’ to the fact that the official Clintwood roster includes the names and numbers of former players who have had their numbers retired, all the way back to 1949, to the fact that the school has had all of three head football coaches since 1953, it’s just a football culture to be found in the pocket communities that dot Virginia’s far-southwest mountains.

Ryan Patrick Shaffner and Shaina Reni Stockton were married on Nov. 11 at Galax Pentecostal Holiness Church. A private ceremony was performed by Pastor Zachary Royer.

The couple exchanged rings, lit unity candles and made their wishes come true.
The groom’s sons, Christopher and Hunter, were his best men. His daughter, Kaitlyn, was flower girl.
The bride’s parents are Doug and Jeannie Stockton of Galax. The bride’s father escorted her down the aisle.